An acce­le­ra­tor for nature-based solutions

Sibylle Grass cites mangrove forests as an exam­ple of what Inno­vate 4 Nature (I4N) works for. As natu­ral climate solu­ti­ons, mangrove forests help to combat climate change. They support the natu­ral absorp­tion of carbon dioxide, are habi­tats for many animal species and protect coas­tal areas from erosion. In addi­tion, their culti­va­tion provi­des the local popu­la­tion with an income.

Inno­vate 4 Nature sees itself as an acce­le­ra­tor for nature-based solu­ti­ons: start-ups that offer measu­res to conserve or restore natu­ral ecosys­tems are brought toge­ther with compa­nies, inves­tors and foun­da­ti­ons that also have an inte­rest in halting biodi­ver­sity loss. These nature-based solu­ti­ons, in turn, are inten­ded to support the tran­si­tion to a rege­ne­ra­tive economy – an economy that takes account of natu­ral resour­ces or even promo­tes them.

Stabi­lity thanks to the foun­da­tion structure

Inno­vate 4 Nature was foun­ded in 2021 by the four orga­ni­sa­ti­ons InTent, Water­pre­neurs, enga­gea­bi­lity and IN-FINITUDE AG, also recei­ving support from the Migros Pioneer Fund. It was initi­ally set up as an asso­cia­tion, but since May 2024, it has been orga­nised as a foun­da­tion. The chair of the Board of Trus­tees is André Hoff­mann, who is also vice chair of the Board of Direc­tors of Roche, chair of Massel­laz, and foun­der and co-chair of InTent. ‘We have a long-term vision and are convin­ced that our struc­ture as a foun­da­tion gives us more stabi­lity and credi­bi­lity,’ says Sibylle Grass. The stra­tegy has also chan­ged. Initi­ally, I4N func­tioned as a ‘market­place’ where start-ups as provi­ders of nature-based solu­ti­ons could meet poten­tial inves­tors. ‘Howe­ver, we have noti­ced that, in addi­tion to inves­tors, we can also provide targe­ted support to compa­nies that need to address the issue of biodi­ver­sity, and we have expan­ded our offe­rings accor­din­gly,’ says Sibylle Grass. Although the topic is not new, it still exists in the shadow of the big issue of climate change and CO2 reduc­tion. Today, I4N addres­ses compa­nies, foun­da­ti­ons and inves­tors all over the world. Many compa­nies are called upon to take action to preserve biodi­ver­sity, partly for reasons of repu­ta­tion, because custo­mers expect a commen­su­rate commit­ment, but also to make their own supply chains more resi­li­ent. At the begin­ning of the year, when a large part of the cocoa harvest in West Africa was destroyed by extreme weather and dise­ase, the price of choco­late rose shar­ply during the Easter season. Sibylle Grass: ‘Half of all compa­nies world­wide depend directly on nature and natu­ral resour­ces, while the other half depend on them indi­rectly. When an ecosys­tem collap­ses, it has a direct impact on the company’s business.’

While Inno­vate 4 Nature initi­ally focu­sed on projects and orga­ni­sa­ti­ons in Switz­er­land, it now has a global reach: ‘There are so many exci­ting projects ever­y­where that we don’t want to limit oursel­ves,’ says Sibylle Grass. Nowa­days, it’s no longer prima­rily about ‘tradi­tio­nal’ invest­ment, but about colla­bo­ra­tion between diffe­rent inte­rest groups. The foun­da­tion makes its broad network and exper­tise in the field of nature and biodi­ver­sity available to compa­nies, for exam­ple by presen­ting examp­les of best prac­tice. ‘We want to take on a pionee­ring role here,’ explains the marke­ting specia­list. I4N helps start-ups not only to raise money, but above all to increase their visi­bi­lity so that they become attrac­tive to third-party inves­tors. To this end, I4N publishes more than 140 nature-based solu­ti­ons in a ‘Solu­ti­ons Gallery’ on its website. The foun­da­tion has set itself the goal of support­ing at least 100 high-quality, nature-posi­tive solu­ti­ons by 2030.

Great inte­rest in the inau­gu­ral I4N Awards

Visi­bi­lity is also ensu­red by the I4N Awards, which the foun­da­tion will be awar­ding for the first time this year. More than 400 appli­ca­ti­ons have appar­ently been recei­ved from start-ups from all over the world: ‘We were down­right over­run.’ As part of this year’s I4N Day, which will take place this month in Arles, France, prizes will be awarded in four cate­go­ries. ‘This will be a mile­stone for us.’ The Award comes with a total of 100,000 Swiss francs, and the aim is to present it annu­ally in future. In order to increase prize money and to provide even better support to compa­nies that, for exam­ple, are speci­fi­cally looking for solu­ti­ons within their indus­try, new part­ner awards are also plan­ned. In addi­tion, a tool is being deve­lo­ped to measure and repre­sent the impact of all funded solutions.

Inno­vate 4 Nature is curr­ently supported finan­ci­ally by InTent and recently mana­ged to gain the Four­fold Foun­da­tion as a part­ner. In the medium term, the orga­ni­sa­tion aims to become self-sustai­ning. Sibylle Grass adds: ‘The money that comes to us from part­ner orga­ni­sa­ti­ons should be used in full for the bene­fit of the start-ups.’